


A Faded Ribbon

by K_G



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Abuse, CSA, Mentioned not described, child trafficking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-04
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-30 02:19:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5146655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/K_G/pseuds/K_G
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If you're cuter, monsters won't hit you as hard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“If you’re cute, they won’t hurt you so much.” The ribbon is adjusted, and the brush strokes over your hair a few more times, settling the stray strands. “You don’t want to get hurt, do you? So be a good kid.”

Rouge is dabbed on your cheeks, and you stare out the window and bite down hard on the inside of your mouth. You’ll be punished if you cry, it messes up the makeup.

You can see the flowers outside, golden and bright. You wonder what they feel like. It’s been so long since you went outside. They don’t let you, in case you get sunburned. Your skin is too soft and pale for that, people wouldn’t pay as much.

“There we go, Chara. Give us a big smile, now.” Your lips stretch into the familiar rictus, and your jaw aches. “Good. You are very good.”

You are taken by the hand and led to another room, sat down on the bed and arranged like a doll. You are just a doll to them.

You try very hard to just be a doll to you, too.

The ribbon is plumped once more, and then you are alone. But you won’t be for long. It’s getting dark.

\- - -

You have been very good, you are told. You earn more than enough for your keep.

You are everyone’s favourite child.

Today you get to go outside and look at the flowers, because it is your birthday. That doesn’t mean much to you. You don’t even know what year it is. You’ve been here a long time.

The sun is very bright, and it hurts your eyes. The yard is not very large, but it is larger than your room and that scares you. Everything is too bright and too big. Even the flowers. You turn, open your mouth to ask to go back inside, but your minder isn’t watching you. They are talking through the door to someone else. Your eyes dart around. The fencing is old and ramshackle, and there’s a gap-

You run.

You squeeze through the gap and you keep running. The golden flowers are everywhere in the village. You hear a shout and your heart pounds and you pump your arms as fast as you can.

The mountain looms in the distance. You remember the stories they used to tell you, about how it’s filled with terrible monsters and no-one who goes there ever comes back. It used to be a threat. Be good, or you’ll get tossed into Mt. Ebbot.

The monsters there can’t be as bad as the ones here, though. They won’t catch you. They can’t catch you. You’ll die on that mountain first.

You are filled with determination.


	2. Chapter 2

You hoped they would stop chasing you. You think that you should have known better than to hope.

You are so tired. Years of confinement have atrophied your legs, and the muscles burn with every painful step. Your pursuers are bigger than you, stronger than you.

But not more determined than you.

You dart between the thick trunks of trees, your pattern random. Sometimes you deliberately take the harder path. It confuses your would-be captors, they have to slow to figure out which way you went. It buys you the time you need. You're not going back to the room. The ground slopes up beneath your feet as you start to ascend the mountain. Your breathing is harsh and your lungs ache. Bright spots obscure your vision.

It's getting dark. Bad things happen when it gets dark.

You keep running.

 

\- - -

 

The ribbon gets torn from your hair by a branch, twisting in the wind in a shock of red against faded green. Raised voices sound in the distance. Your hear a call to turn back, and yells of disagreement. You don't trust it. It's a trap to make you think you're safe. You're not safe. You've  _never_ been safe. 

You keep running.

You fall, and your cheek slams painfully against a rock face. The circles of rouge on them are smeared with blood, it stings. It's a good pain. You don't wipe the blood away, but scramble back to your feet. There's a cave up ahead, a huge dark mouth in the mountain that will swallow you whole. 

Something comes careening out of the tree cover behind you, and you hear an angry shout. It's your minder. The trees thin out the closer you get to the cave, and they are gaining on you. Fingers brush your hair and you scream for help. You launch yourself forward and your hand seizes around a hefty rock. The hand closes around your ankle, and you turn and strike with both hands clasped around your makeshift weapon. 

A scream. More blood - you struck their temple and it runs into their eyes, blinding them. You shake yourself free, knees trembling, and lurch forward. Your arms pump in desperation, you stumble into the mouth of the cave. The ground crawls with thick vines the further you run, and the shouts of your pursuer...no,  _pursuers,_ the rest have caught up, echo in the dark. Desperate, you cry for help again and again. 

But nobody comes. 

Your voice is thrown back at you a hundred times, angry, mocking. Nobody has ever helped you and nobody is about to start. Your eyes cloud with tears. Your limbs are shaking. 

You're not going to get away. 

"There!" A light flashes behind you, and your steps falter for a moment. Maybe if you just give up they won't hurt you too badly. You think about being taken back to the room, getting your hair fixed up. Being a good child.

No.

You take a deep breath even though it feels like inhaling needles, and surge forward with renewed determination. You run, and they chase, and you don't know how long you've been going.

You keep calling for help. If nothing else, the echoes are confusing the ones chasing you. You twist and turn, deeper and deeper into the mountain, and then-

You fall. 

 


	3. Chapter 3

You had seen the hole.

Sunlight had been streaming down through cracks in the cave ceiling.

For a moment, everything had fallen away. Your steps had slowed, then stopped. Staring down, you couldn't see a bottom to the chasm. It was too wide to jump across. Your fingers twisted in your shirt, you glanced over your shoulder and saw the orange glow of a flashlight in the distance.

There was no way back, no different tunnel to run through. You turned around and walked toward that orange glow, wincing as the beam was directed at your face. Your hands balled into fists, nails dug into your palms.

"Stay still, kid. You've given us a good run. Be good, and you won't get it so bad when we get back."

You waited. They drew closer, and you waited.

"Good. Good, Chara. Very good. Come along now, child." A hand was extended, cupped your cheek. A calloused thumb dragged over your lip, and you'd put on your best smile. You got one in return, they looked over the shoulder to laugh with their comrades.

You sank your teeth deep into that thumb, your mouth filled with blood and your grin had remained fixed as they howled. They clutched their hand, doubling over, and you ran. The vines had snaked around your ankles as though trying to help speed you to your destination, and you laughed as your body tipped and you fell into the dark. Your arms had stretched out like wings, you'd closed your eyes, and felt like you could fly.

You were free.

 


	4. Chapter 4

The ground shatters you. You feel your soul splintering, in a moment of the purest agony you have ever felt. But you are relieved. Your head is wet with blood, and your arm is twisted in an unnatural angle. You lay still, at peace.

"Oh, you've fallen down, haven't you? Are you okay?" 

The voice is young, and filled with concern. Your soul hesitates, you can feel yourself shaking. You called for help so many times, and nobody came. Why now, when you were finally being teased with the prospect of everything ending? 

"Here, get up."

You crane your head up, and stare into the pale red eyes of a monster. It has to be a monster. It looks like nothing you've ever seen before, with pure white fur and small fangs. You should be afraid. This is what you were warned about. Be a good child, or the monsters will get you. 

But they already did. What's one more?

You reach out, and take the extended...hand? Paw? The monster smiles at you, as bright and cheerful as the golden flowers outside your room. Your soul pieces itself back together.

"I'm Chara." Your voice is as cracked as your soul, but the monster's smile only grows wider. 

"Chara? That is a nice name. My name is Asriel." It looks you up and down, and gasps. "You're really hurt, aren't you? That was a very long way to fall. I'll go get my mom and dad."

Asriel helps you sit up, and drags you back to rest against a pillar. You tilt your head up, and the light filtering down from above makes you squint. There's enough that a small patch of grass had grown where you fell, like a thick green pillow. Asriel says something about being right back, and then he's running out of the cavern. You don't know whether you're glad he was here or not. You were ready to die. You wanted to die. 

But you're safe here, right? Your captors can't reach you ever again, and the monster seems nice in a way you've never encountered before. For the first time in a long while, you feel hopeful.

You close your eyes, and sleep. 

 


End file.
